


The Sideswipe Variable

by BalloonArcade



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Sideswipe can even
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 20:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BalloonArcade/pseuds/BalloonArcade
Summary: Something is beeping in Prowl's office. He can't find the source. It's driving his battle computer insane.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> and the prompt "Is there something you want to tell me?"

_Beep._

Prowl’s optic twitched. Standing from his chair, turning toward his shelf of datapads, he crossed his arms in front of him, and he waited. 

That had _definitely_ come from behind him.

Twenty minutes ago there had been a beep. 

Forty two minutes before that there had been a beep.

And one beep when he came in early this morning. 

Four beeps today, eleven yesterday, and two the day before.

He had not yet established the mathematical intervals of the beeps, nor their source.

Wheeljack had scanned his office yesterday and left with a shrug. Jazz had searched this morning after the first beep, and Prowl commed him in to prove he wasn’t going insane. 

Nothing, they declared. There was no device Wheeljack could pick up on a scanner, no technology Jazz could detect.

Nothing in his office was beeping. 

_Nothing in his office beeped when any other Autobot was in the room._

Prowl stood glaring at his rows upon rows of datapads. The device was in there somewhere, the beeping always came from that direction as he sat at his desk. Was it possible it could detect the number of sparks in a localized area?

Thirty minutes past. 

No beep. 

Forty minutes past. 

No beep. 

Finally Prowl reached over toward the datapad he was reviewing before the last beep, one final suspicious glance at his shelf and sat down on his desk.

Thirteen minutes later:

_Beep_

This time the entire left side of Prowl’s face twitched, and he whirled around to glare behind him. 

His couch. 

There were two devices in his office. One in his couch. And one in his shelf mixed in with his datapads.

By the time Prowl had demolished his couch, taken more than half of the datapads from his shelf…

_Beep_

His entire frame twitched. 

Rounding in a fury he glared at his desk. 

A third device in his desk. 

~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~

Sideswipe leaned against the wall to Prowl’s office, killing little alien bugs on his hand held gaming system Wheeljack modified for his size when his twin walked by and stopped. 

“Don’t you have an early shift tomorrow?”

“Yup.” 

Something heavy thudded against Prowl’s office door, and Sideswipe paused his game, tilting his head to the side. Sounded like a couch cushion…

Game unpaused he went back to playing.

“Prowl still getting caught up in work and missing your painfully scheduled times together?”

“Yup.” 

Something crashed and Sideswipe paused his game, tilting his head to the side. Sounded like a stack of datapads…

Game unpaused he went back to playing.

“Left the berth early this morning too.” Sideswipe added.

“You didn’t get morning cuddles.” Sunstreaker seethed out his denta, his irritation and support for his twin pulsing in waves across their bond. 

“I didn’t get morning cuddles.” Sideswipe confirmed with a nod and Sunstreaker leaned against the wall beside him, watching him pass another level. 

At the sound a desk crashing to the floor, Sideswipe turned off his hand held gaming device, and looked over to his twin.

“Well that’s my cue.” Sideswipe positioned himself dead center of Prowl’s office doorway, and crossed his arms over his chestplate. 

Three seconds later, Prowl’s office door opened, and Prowl’s enraged optics widened as he stopped dead in front of Sideswipe.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” Sideswipe asked. 

“Oh for the love of -“ Prowl rubbed his chevron and Sideswipe knew it was from the abrupt end of however many numerous simulations now that he added in the _Sideswipe Variable_. “The beeping only happens outside my regular work hours! _That’s_ why no one else ever hears it!”

“Yup.”

“You went online shopping.”

“Yup.”

“The devices are not Cybertronian that’s why Wheeljack’s scans didn’t pick them up.” 

“Yup.”

“Then why didn’t Jazz find them?”

Glaring deep into Prowl’s optics as Prowl stopped rubbing his chevron to look up at him, Sideswipe swore he could _hear_ Prowl’s battle computer running simulations trying to figure out how Sideswipe was doing this.

“Sideswipe, you are taking Ratchet’s medical orders entirely too literal, getting my work done is the solution for my stress to relax the battle computer in my cortex, please remove the devices from my office.”

“Nope.”

“I could have met up with you half an hour ago if it wasn’t for the random…” Prowl narrowed his optics at him, “There’s no pattern. The beeps are randomized, the only constraints are the agreed upon hours Ratchet ordered me to maintain to force my battle computer to stop stressing my spark.”

“Yup.” At Sideswipe’s confirmation most of the tension in Prowl’s frame melted away and his door wings dropped in exhaustion. Softening his stance, Sideswipe pulled Prowl against him, wrapping his arms around him so he could rest his forehead that was probably pounding on his shoulder.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” Sideswipe murmured into his audial.

Prowl sunk deeper into his arms, “Thanks Sideswipe. For never giving up on me.”

“I’ll never let you get lost in your calculations Prowl,” He pressed a kiss in the center of Prowl’s chevron. “I’ll always keep giving your battle computer a work out until it gives you back to me.”

Sweeping a digit in between plating he learned from Ratchet was a Praxian frame sensor net blind spot between their door wings, he palmed the Annoy-A-Tron he had modified between plating in his own servo, switching it off in a single movement.

//You can go Sunny, I don’t need back up this time.//

//I’ll take your shift tomorrow.//

//Thanks Sunny.//

Stroking gently between Prowl’s door wings, Prowl melted harder against him. Finally released from his own cortex and calculations; probable solutions abandoned. 

Once his battle computer factored in the Sideswipe Variable, it always ended up exhausted into silence for a time.

**Author's Note:**

> Sunstreaker seething at Prowl's battle computer for making him miss morning cuddles with Sideswipe will never cease to make me go DAAWWWWW.


End file.
